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Man found guilty of killing church organist on Christmas Eve Man found guilty of killing church organist on Christmas Eve
(about 11 hours later)
A 22-year-old man has been found guilty of killing a church organist who was battered to death on his way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The wife of a 68-year-old church organist, who was attacked on his way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, said she would pray for his killers, after a man was found guilty on Thursdayof his manslaughter.
Ashley Foster was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Sheffield crown court after a trial heard how Alan Greaves was attacked near his home in the High Green area of the city. The jury found Foster not guilty of murder. Alan Greaves died of head injuries, on 27 December 2012, days after the attack. He was beaten in the street with a pickaxe handle and another unidentified weapon near his home in High Green, Sheffield.
Another man, Jonathan Bowling, also 22, had already admitted murdering the 68-year-old grandfather. Both men will be sentenced on Friday. Police described the incident as a "appalling, extremely violent and totally unprovoked attack".
There was confusion in court after the clerk only asked the jury foreman whether Foster was guilty of murder. When the foreman said "not guilty" there were celebrations from Foster's family. But as Mr Greaves's widow, Maureen, looked shocked and confused, the jury foreman, who had already been asked to sit, shouted: "But guilty of manslaughter." A jury at Sheffield crown court convicted Ashley Foster, 22, of manslaughter. In June, Jonathan Bowling, 22, had pleaded guilty to Greaves's murder. They will be sentenced on Friday.
Foster's girlfriend, Natalie Evers, then burst into tears and ran from the court screaming. The jury of six men and six women returned verdicts after 13 hours of deliberations. On Christmas Eve last year, Greaves left home for St Saviour's church, a short walk from his home, at about 11pm. He was due to play the organ at mass, an activity he had enjoyed over 40 years.
After the verdict was clarified, Mrs Greaves, 63, sobbed in the public gallery and was comforted by members of her family. She has sat through every day of the trial with many members of her family. During the three-and-a-half-week trial, prosecutors described how Mr Greaves, a father of four, was severely beaten with a pick-axe handle and another weapon that has never been found, possibly a hammer. But at about 11.15pm he was found collapsed on the pavement by a passerby and was then admitted to Northern General hospital in a critical condition.
He suffered horrendous head injuries and died in hospital three days later with his family around him. His widow, Maureen, expressed relief at the verdict and hope that the killers would reflect on what they had done.
Speaking after the verdict, she said: "Alan was a wonderful man who is so dearly missed. Our lives will never be the same again. Alan was a man who was driven by love and compassion and he would not want any of us to hold on to feelings of hate and unforgiveness.
"So, in honour of Alan and … of the god we both love, my prayer is that this story doesn't end today. My prayer is that Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster will come to understand and experience the love and kindness of the god who made him in his own image, and that god's great mercy will inspire him to true repentance."
Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, told the court that Bowling and Foster, whom he described as like brothers, had been drinking alcohol together before the attack and after battering Greaves spotted laughing in a park. Foster had claimed he was a distance away when the attack happened and had been shouting at Bowling to stop.
There was confusion in court when the jury foreman said "not guilty" after being asked whether Foster was guilty of murder, prompting celebrations among the accused's family. But as Greaves's wife looked shocked, the jury foreman shouted: "But guilty of manslaughter."
Welcoming the verdict, the vicar of St Saviour's church, Canon Simon Bessan, said Greaves had invested most of his life in the service of the Sheffield community. He had helped open a food bank just weeks before his death. "Alan was intending to celebrate the coming of light at Christmas, yet he himself was the victim of darkness just a few minutes away from doors of the church."
Bessan said that Greaves had lived his life with honesty and integrity and remained an inspiration to the church.
St Saviour's was packed for Greaves's funeral. Hundreds of people listened to his wife's eulogy via a video link at the nearby St Mary's Roman Catholic church, while scores of wellwishers could not get into either church and stood in freezing temperatures outside, listening to the many tributes through loudspeakers.
Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, who led the police investigation, said: "Alan Greaves suffered an appalling, extremely violent and totally unprovoked attack as he walked to church. In a matter of minutes, Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster had left an innocent man for dead."
Gavin Hotchkiss, senior prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, Yorkshire and Humberside, said he hoped that the verdict would be of some comfort to Greaves' friends and family, praising "the absolute dignity and forgiveness demonstrated by Mrs Greaves".
The court heard how Foster, of Wesley Road, High Green, and Bowling, of Carwood Way, Pitsmoor, had left a family gathering earlier that evening.The court heard how Foster, of Wesley Road, High Green, and Bowling, of Carwood Way, Pitsmoor, had left a family gathering earlier that evening.
According to prosecutors they were stalking the streets of High Green looking for someone to attack. If they had not killed the pensioner it would have been someone else, the jury was told.According to prosecutors they were stalking the streets of High Green looking for someone to attack. If they had not killed the pensioner it would have been someone else, the jury was told.
Foster, a father of two, gave evidence during the trial and claimed he shouted to try to stop Bowling attacking Mr Greaves and was a distance away at the time.
He claimed he did not tell police what had happened because he was terrified of Bowling and his family.
The jury heard Foster had never had a proper job, although he did casual work at a local farm.
The pair had known each other since their early teens when Bowling's father was in a relationship with Foster's mother.
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